March had a cold start, with temperatures increasing mid-month. There was near-normal rainfall of 49.1mm, 109% of the 30-year local mean, and above-average sunshine of 144.4 hours (152% of the 30-year mean).

So the month was another one with above-average temperatures – the mean temperature of 6.5C for the first three months is 2.2C above the long-term mean.

Outlook
The end of April looks a little dull and changeable, but predicting further afield is difficult. Early May appears slightly cooler than normal with average rainfall, but the chance of a warmer, drier spell later in the month.

The first three months of 2014 have been quite unusual in that there has been no snow lying locally in any of those months. This is the first year time this has occurred since my records began 30+ years ago.